News

The Hamilton School Streets pilot project creates extra space for play in temporary car-free zones. The project closes streets at Strathcona Elementary School every Tuesday morning throughout June.

The walking & wheeling skills training project conducted a best practices audit, developed an online resource hub, and identified collective calls to action to support more effective collaboration across jurisdictions.  

A young cycling advocate from Markham’s Bill Hogarth Secondary School talks about how good infrastructure and peer support is important in creating a cycling culture.

Singing, bubble blowing, chalk drawing, and many more activities were enjoyed along a temporary car-free Havenwood Drive as part of the City of Mississauga’s School Streets pilot project. 

The Markham School Streets Pilot launched at John McCrae Public School, creating temporary road closures during peak school drop-off and pick-up times. The Pilot is closing Sticker Avenue for four consecutive Wednesdays in May. 

‘On The Move’ project, led by the Town of Collingwood, collaborated with Collingwood Youth Centre to promote winter active transportation to school. A team of 12 youngsters came together to capture images and work with younger students to build a promotional package for Winter Walk Day.

Scott Read’s keen interest in active transportation resulted in infrastructure changes at Thunder Bay’s C.D. Howe Public School and also the creation of an annual Fill-A-Bike-Rack-Day which brings the community together to celebrate cycling!

The Windsor-Essex County Active School Travel (WEC-AST) Committee has spearheaded the development of an Active School Travel Charter that calls upon the community partners to provide sustained support, resources, and education for active school transportation over the long term.

Between the Lines: Safe & Active Travel for School engages students in Grades K to 3, through a series of in-class presentations that teach three key messages: the role of Crossing Guards, basics of road safety, and the benefits of active school travel.

Cycling school bus led by parents becomes popular on social media after it was filmed by videographer Josh Orita and received over 5,000 views on Twitter.

Teacher Tina Smith from Stonebridge Public School in Markham created certificates and checklists to promote active transportation to school among students, parents and teachers amidst the pandemic and school closures.

The Town has sourced regional support to implement infrastructure improvements — including a staff parking lot, fencing and grounds improvements at St. Mary’s Catholic School.

The project is using support from the OAST Fund to create a scooter and pedestrian-focused education and encouragement program called Roll and Stroll; Families Moving Together.

Ottawa’s EnviroCentre is set to gamify walking to school with a new tool. The organization is working with Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) to develop and launch a new Walk to School App, called Hop!. 

Green Communities Canada’s School Travel Planning (STP) team in Toronto made use of the challenges posed by the lockdown to involve students in suggesting changes to the urban infrastructure around a school!

A new active school travel initiative being implemented across Brampton & Caledon is approaching school travel through a distinct ecological lens. Led by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), it will engage students through a unique air quality monitoring activity using lichen.

North Bay’s active school travel project is a great example of identifying and addressing local active transportation needs through our provincial program. They are utilizing their latest grant from OAST to get Grade 7 & 8 students to bike to school.

Excerpts from the submission by the Active School Travel Canada Working Group to the Government of Canada regarding the proposed National Active Transportation Strategy and Fund.

At the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU), the team implementing the On The Move active school travel project faced the twin challenges of a work to rule campaign in area schools followed by COVID-19 in 2020. 

Ajax is no newbie to active school travel (AST) initiatives. Initial work to get more kids walking and wheeling to school began as early as 2010! But, a grant from the OAST Fund in 2019 helped boost those efforts over the last two years.